How to Survive a Long Haul Flight.

6 hours or more in a stuffed aircraft cabin might sound like your worst nightmare and even worse. The film and Tv selection poor as you see all most of them, but can be a dream with a little preparation. Follow my 10 survival tips to help you get relaxed and ready to start your holiday.

Wear comfortable clothes on a long flight.

This is a must to consider before going on a long fight. Pick an outfit that you won’t mind wearing for 6 hours or longer sat on the plane. The plan gets cold as the icon will be blasting for a long time, so don’t forget to bring a jumper. Don’t wear flip-flops on a long flight just in case the surety alarms go off in the airport. Flip flops are not good shoes to run in. Wearing comfortable shoes is the best and not too snug as the feet swell at high altitudes.

2. Reserve a great seat.

An essential long-haul flight tip is to think ahead before booking anything. Choose a good seat is a key to a long haul flight. Sky scanner says there is a whole science about the seat and read their article about the perfect airline seat that is apparently 6A.

There are a few rules for picking the best seats if you can’t afford to upgrade and you can only opt for the economy. If you want more leg room to try to go for exit rows. If you want to avoid crying babies avoid the front. At this there they get special provision. Also, most people want to book as close to the front of the plain, so book at the back will mean you get more chance of having taken so you can lay down but will be very noisy. Ask about the seats at the gate to see if the plane is not full, so you can try and get a whole row to yourself to make into a bed.

airplane seats

3 Prepare yourself for sleep

As you will be on a plane for the equivalent of a whole day or night. Bring a few essentials to make it feel like you are sleeping in a bed. First get a lightweight blanket and a travel pillow to prevent getting neck-ache. One important thing to have is earplugs I like to lessen to music while I am sleeping on the plane to drown out the noise of people. Sometimes prescribes sleep aids help people to have a good sleep on a long-haul flight.

4. Take your own snacks,

As everyone knows, if you not in business or first class the food on flights are bad. I always am bringing snacks onto the airplane. As you won’t know what you expecting or what time you will get it, so I always bring snacks to help prevent hunger To prevent this while you wait for the rattle of the food trolleys takes some snack bars that provide slow –energy releases like cereal bars, nuts or dried fruits.

5. Prepare for jet lag

If you are the few people that feel grotty the first few days of the holiday because you have jet lag. Then there are a few preparations you can do to try and prevent it. One of the best ways to help is by adjusting your sleep the day before. Make the booking by booking the flight to arrive during the day and be well rested before you fly.

airplane sea

6. Stay hydrated

Aircraft Cabins are often very dry places and getting dehydrated is possible. The best way to prevent this when you pass security checks buy a bottle of water, as it could be a long time till the cabin crew could deliver you water. Avoid having too much tea and coffee, alcohol as they make you more dehydrated. Also, bring an empty bottle if you want to save buying one. It will mean that you can get the cabin crew to fill your bottle up.

7. Charge all your devices

The one thing you don’t want to happen is watching a film on your table or listing to music and halfway through the device cuts off, as there are no batteries. I have had this problem that is why my family call me Dannie no battery. I now always charge my devices up before I go on any long trip, but my phone battery is rubbish and goes very quickly. That is why you should invest in a very good external power pack. The one that you should get is Askborge ChargeCube that only cost £10 and find out why

8. Play a game.

If you are traveling with a group of people for a long time. One way to pass the time very quickly is to play a game such a board game and you get travel sized games now or even a two player game on your phone, as it is always better playing a game with some else than on your own.

airplane food

9. Do a bit of planning

If you are like me and you are a blogger and going on a long-haul flight. Then you will have a long time to entertain yourself. Why not do some work to pass the time by planning a new blog post, or even planning what types of photos you would like to take for your Instagram account from the trip? Check out my Instagram account at www.instagram.com/danielcr1995.

10 Pack a book or magazine.

This one is very obvious that everyone already knows. If you are in a plain and can’t get to sleep, then you can finally finish that book you been meaning to. There have been times where I was on a plane and I have fished watching all the good films and shows that there is to offer, but have had nothing to read and been very bored for a few hours and could have something to read to avoid this.

airplane seats

Comment down below any life hacks or tips you have surviving a long haul flight

45 comments

Unfortunately, being able to choose your own seat is becoming a real commodity. I’ve seen more and more airlines requiring extra payment to choose! Which every time makes me worried I won’t get to sit next to my wife even during a long haul. Next they’ll start charging for air.

My partner & I take long flights quite often…I never seem to come out on the other end feeling very well! These are good tips though. We’ve taken to getting there super early & it’s paid off to where we’ve gotten a whole row of 3 seats to ourselves! Good tips…forward thinking & planning is key to at least having a mildly comfortable time!

My daughter and I traveled to london a few months ago and between the layover and the time change, we were really wiped out. it took DAYS to get back to a normal schedule. Thanks for these tips….I will definitely need them next time I travel overseas!

It is funny that during short flights, I get to reserve a window seat. But during long haul flights, I don’t! I always want to have a window seat but that doesn’t happen everytime. Anyway, thanks for these tips. I won’t be flying out anytime soon but if I do, I will remember to heed your advice.

Packing a book or magazine is good. Plus getting to know the people around you helps, though it might not work if they are curmudgeons. For me I get really uncomfortable, Dramamine knocks me out for a good bit of time and so I don’t have to remember much of the flight.

The longest flight I’ve ever been on I believe was a little more than three hours. But even in what someone might call a “shorter” flight I’ve used all of these tips before. Luckily for me I am someone that can fall asleep anywhere including airplanes!

This is a great post , I’m well impressed. I was recently on a flight to Lanzarote from Ireland with my daughter and her friends and they found the flight very tedious. (4and a half hours) . I noticed on the plane at the back that there were several seats unoccupied so next time I will definitely check at boarding to find out if they can stretch out on them. I would never have thought of this. Thanks!

I hate long haul flights. I can hardly ever sleep (I’m an insomniac anyways) so they feel super long. These are great tips, though. I wonder how they determined that 6A is the perfect seat. Is that in business class?

these are such great tips for the wanderlusters out there! I tend to buy food at places like Pret A Manger at the aitport and then take them on board with me, when you have stomach concerns I find it easier to manage that way, especially on a long haul flight, sleep always evades me on a flight though, I don’t know if it’s the uncomfortable seats but I can never fall asleep lol! The Husband has no issue with sleep though!

I can agree so much to this! I am from South Korea so sometimes when I go back home, it almost takes me more than 12 hour flight. While in the flight, I normally watch 3-4 movies and either play games or read a book. It can easily be tedious so you need to really be prepared.

You cannot under-estimate how important it is to wear comfortable clothes for long haul flights. I see some people dressed like they are going for a dinner on a plane and know withing a couple of hours they will regret it. I agree with so many of your tips here, for me, learning to just sleep through the flight is how I get through it. I’ve done some mammoth flights over the years and as a smoker I can get quite irritable so I just sleep through them haha. Great post 😀